


One Kitty, Two Kitties, Three Kitties...Five?

by miangel29



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crack, Fluff, M/M, Shapeshifting, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miangel29/pseuds/miangel29
Summary: The story behind Jaebeom's cats (and why he keeps them a secret).
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Comments: 14
Kudos: 114





	One Kitty, Two Kitties, Three Kitties...Five?

**One Kitty, Two Kitties, Three Kitties...Five? - _Genfic with a healthy dose of JJP_**

***

There was one very well-kept secret in the Kpop industry that not even the most vengeful and wrongly-treated idol would ever dare reveal. As badly as any company or management treated them, it was the one sanctuary they had away from the limelight, manic fans, and, ultimately, the one moment of solace they actually had away from idolhood. It was their one true escape from the idol world. And they would do nothing to rob themselves and their fellow idol comrades from this reprieve.

Nobody knew exactly what would trigger it nor why it would occur to some idols but not others. By now, nobody questioned it anymore, taking it in stride when it  _ did _ happen to one of their groupmates or themselves. It simply became a matter of working around their schedules to make sure not a soul out of the idol world got wind of it.

Jaebeom had expected it, actually anticipated himself going through what he’d heard his respected seniors had undergone. He especially didn’t think that more than half of the group he’d lead would fall victim to what had now been widely not-so-affectionately dubbed the ‘Idol Curse’. Jaebeom saw it less of a curse, but rather a justified excuse to not burn his members out.

Especially when it lead to him being parent to a group of five admittedly adorable cats.

So idols occasionally turned into domestic animals under certain triggering circumstances, but to Lim Jaebeom, that was just another regular day in his life.

***

_ Berry _

For years, Jaebeom thought that Youngjae would stay completely human throughout their GOT7 career. He did, in fact, have his own non-idol-actual-animal pet and the general rule of thumb was that idols with real animal pets tended to not turn into one themselves. Obviously it became quite a shock to Jaebeom when he woke up in the midst of a nap in their van en route to their company from recently completed an overseas schedule, to a Russian Blue lazily licking a paw while keeping an eye on Jaebeom as he blinked himself awake.

Jaebeom’s first thought was that he was still sleeping, having one of his many,  _ many _ dreams about living happily with an infinite amount of stray cats he had rescued, unable to keep track on any of them but loving each one all the same. His second thought was that Koonta had gotten a little too excited crawling in tight spaces and come out with a layer of dust in addition to his actual fur (given who Koonta actually  _ was _ , him being hyperactive was absolutely within the ordinary).

All of those thoughts were banished the moment he saw the cat give him a wide, open-mouthed meow that upturned in such a way that could only be explained, in human equivalence, as  _ laughter _ . Something seemed to fall into place in Jaebeom’s mind.

One quick glance around the van and a quick text to Jinyoung in the other van had his hypothesis confirmed.

“Oh Youngjae, I thought you’d always be my human company,” Jaebeom said with a sigh, but unable to help his smile when Youngjae responded to his extended hand by meeting it in the middle with a ready head butt and a deep purr. Even in cat form his purrs were on key.

Youngjae was a docile feline, choosing mainly to sit curled in Jaebeom’s lap throughout the entire van ride and even letting Jaebeom carry him back into his own apartment, calmly loafing on Jaebeom’s sofa. Nothing short of a nuclear strike seemed to wake him and Jaebeom watched fondly as Youngjae the cat went from being a cute ball of fluff to a haphazard pile of cat limbs twisted in every which way that looked very uncomfortable to sleep in. (Jaebeom took pictures of every extreme pose Youngjae slept in, already filling up his recently made folder).

Jaebeom would later discover that a sleeping cat-Youngjae was always the preferable option.

Youngjae was dying. That was the only conclusion Jaebeom could come up with when he woke up from yet another nap to a screeching cat screaming bloody murder in his apartment. It was lucky his apartment was soundproof, or he would have woken earlier to protesting neighbours with pitchforks of noise complaint demands.

Jaebeom had rushed out of bed, tripping at least twice on his own blanket before he managed to locate Youngjae perched very calmly on top of his kitchen counter. Not dying. Or in any form of danger. But still meowing with the vocal strength of a cat going into labour.

He stopped when he saw Jaebeom emerge. Jaebeom didn’t even have time to take in the unmistakable  _ grin _ (he didn’t want to describe it as being  _ cheshire  _ for adversity to being cliched, but that was the best way to describe it) that cat-Youngjae gave him before turning around and clearly leading Jaebeom into his own kitchen. Half-sleepy and still dazed, Jaebeom saw Youngjae stop right in front of his refrigerator, a paw on the door.

Confused, Jaebeom merely watched Youngjae staring back at him, paw still stretched out on the refrigerator door. When their staring contest only continued, Youngjae opened his mouth and the shrieks of reverberating terror resumed. Forget turning into a cat, Youngjae sounded much more like a  _ hag _ .

Finally getting the hint when Youngjae began pawing insistently at the refrigerator door, Jaebeom rushed over to open it, effectively ceasing the inhumane screeches. Youngjae promptly bounded onto a shelf in Jaebeom’s refrigerator and began idly glancing around, moving to sniff cautiously at an opened box of blueberries.

Jaebeom left the refrigerator door open, thinking that was the end of it and that Youngjae would find something to eat on his own (no, these idol-cats did  _ not _ eat cat food, thank you very much!). He was ready to turn away and start making his own dinner when another diabolical sound echoed around his apartment. This time a very loud, very pronounced, very distinctive hissing. One that seemed to go on for a very long time without a single second’s break.

“What is it now, Youngjae-ah?” Jaebeom asked, reluctantly turning back to the cat that was still very much inside his refrigerator, but with his hackles up, body rigid and defensive, ears flat against his ears, eyes wide, and hissing still ongoing.

He frowned, not understanding what could possibly be spooking Youngjae, but it only became apparent when he crouched down to better look at the food lining up the shelves of his refrigerator. The problem became apparent in an immediate instant and it was all Jaebeom could do not to outwardly sigh at the predictability of it all. Jaebeom reached out a hand to remove the offending item.

“Maybe I should record myself pranking you with this and get you famous online,” Jaebeom said holding up the cucumber and mock-prodding Youngjae with it. He let out another loud hiss.

Cackling but finding himself amused nonetheless, Jaebeom let Youngjae be, later finding the blue-grey fluffball on his counter, munching happily on some leftover chicken he had.

Much, much later, he found that being hunger-sated and well-rested was all that was needed for Youngjae to turn back into his human self. It was certainly a relief when Jaebeom woke up the next morning to a human-limbed, but equally haphazardly sprawled Youngjae on his couch. Putting off the undoubtedly arduous effort of having to wake Youngjae up, Jaebeom turned to his kitchen, pulling out ingredients for a quick breakfast to hopefully cajole Youngjae out of his sleep without any extra effort from Jaebeom himself. As he did, he came across the box of blueberries Youngjae had sniffed the other day and couldn’t help himself thinking of the fruit’s colour resemblance to cat-Youngjae’s fur.

Chuckling as he took a couple of them for himself, Jaebeom pulled out his phone, renaming the folder of cat-Youngjae pictures to “ _ Berry _ ”. He couldn’t wait to tell the others.

***

_ Cake _

The first time Jaebeom had discovered Yugyeom turning, he’d thought a stray had somehow managed to sneak into their dance studio (it wouldn’t have been the first time; Jaebeom’s handy bag of cat food he brought with him everyday to feed strays had drawn more than a couple uninvited guests). He hadn’t thought much of it when he’d come back from a short bathroom break during a late night dance practice to see a white kitten still with its awkward, gangly legs, grey spots decorating its head and body, bathing itself in the middle of the practice room. His bandmates had left earlier and Jaebeom wanted to stay an extra hour to let off some steam and tension for their upcoming comeback.

And so he had put on some music and danced to his heart’s content, feeling the familiar ache of his muscles beginning to seep into his bones in a way that he knew would guarantee him a good night’s sleep afterwards. The cat had followed Jaebeom around enthusiastically, winding between his feet and meowing happily every time Jaebeom sneaked a pat to its head. All very normal cat behaviour that Jaebeom put very little thought into, simply making a mental note to make sure the cat exited the premises when he did (and got left the rest of the cat food in the ziplock he had in his bag).

It was as he was packing up to go home that he realized the cat wasn’t sticking around because it was simply friendly. The brief glance at the growing list of unread messages and missed calls, followed by a buzzing incoming call would come to confirm that.

“WHY HAVEN’T YOU BEEN PICKING UP MY CALLS?”

Jaebeom frowned, glancing back at his phone to make sure he didn’t read the caller ID wrong. He didn’t understand what warranted such an outraged greeting.

“Jinyoungie?”

“DON’T YOU ‘JINYOUNGIE’ ME. YUGYEOM IS MISSING! NOBODY HAS SEEN HIM SINCE WE LEFT THE STUDIO AND YOU HAVE BEEN NO HELP AT ALL!”

Jaebeom’s jaw dropped. “Wha-...what do you mean Yugyeom is missing?” The cat in the practice room suddenly meowed. Jaebeom threw it a frown.

A loud groan on the other line. “I can’t deal with his idiocy right now.  _ You _ talk to him. I need to find that brat and drag his skinny ass back home and ground him for his entire life!”

The phone was transferred to the sound of crunching food. “Hey, Beom.”

“Is Yugyeom really missing, Mark?” Jaebeom asked, worry beginning to sink in. The cat in the room meowed again, catching Jaebeom’s attention as it padded over to wound itself around Jaebeom’s legs.

“He didn’t come back with us and the managers haven’t seen him since,” Mark said matter-of-factly, sounding very nonchalant about a potentially lost member. As if the sound of him munching on chips wasn’t enough of an indicator. “But Yugyeom’s an adult. He’ll be fine. I don’t know what Jinyoung is worried about.”

“ _ He’s a  _ child _ , Mark-hyung! _ ” Jinyoung yelled in the background. “ _ He is easily distracted with ice chocolate and puppies. He could be anywhere, the idiot! _ ”

“So naturally your boyfriend is freaking out because his self-proclaimed son isn’t within his peripheral vision,” Mark said to Jaebeom on the phone. “The only thing stopping him from filing a missing person’s report is because he said that should be your responsibility as the leader and all.”

Jaebeom let out a sigh. For all his physical banter with Yugyeom, Jinyoung was fiercely protective of their maknae. He could only imagine the chaos that broke loose when Jinyoung realized his metaphorical baby had gone AWOL.

“I’ll be home soon and we’ll talk it out then,” Jaebeom said, massaging the bridge of his nose with the oncoming headache that was threatening to hit him.

He hung up, catching the tail end of a familiar shriek on the other line that could only be Jinyoung venting out his worries and frustrations on their poor members. Jaebeom was sure Yugyeom was fine, somewhere, probably feeling peckish and getting himself a midnight snack somewhere, but it  _ was _ uncharacteristic of him to wander off so close to their comeback.

Thinking of all the possible places Yugyeom could be (and wondering how he could appease his boyfriend once he returned), Jaebeom cleared up the practice room and gathered his belongings in one arm, scooping up the compliant kitten in the other as he left to go home. Once outside, he settled the kitten down and was just about to take out the rest of his dry cat food supplies, when the kitten clung heavily on his pants, claws effectively sinking into his jeans.

“I can’t take you home,” Jaebeom said sadly, trying to appease the clingy kitten by drawing it away with the promise of food.

The kitten paid no heed to the food and continued to grab onto Jaebeom’s pants, refusing to let go. Jaebeom’s heart felt punctured, as it did every time he came across a stray he couldn’t adopt, but it was late and he had no way of bringing the cat home without a number of his members having allergic reactions and throwing their entire schedule the next day haywire.

“I’m sorry, kitty, I have to leave,” Jaebem said with deep regret.

It was then that the kitten let out not a meow, not a screech, not a hiss, but a  _ whine _ . There was no other way to describe it; the kitten had  _ whined _ .

Jaebeom stared at the kitten in disbelief, a little stunned but also worried for his mental well-being. Had he gotten so tired that he had imagined a cat  _ whining _ .

As if to disprove his thoughts, the cat whined again.

And it was then, and only then, that things clicked into place for Jaebeom.

“Yugyeom?!”

The kitten began meowing a hurricane, clambering up and trying to get into Jaebeom’s lap as he crouched down, its small head rubbing insistently against Jaebeom’s navel. 

“You’re really Yugyeom?”

The kitten looked up at Jaebeom, another un-cat-like whine escaping its small, small mouth. Now that Jaebeom was looking straight at it, he realized there was so much resemblance between the kitten and Yugyeom that he was surprised he hadn’t noticed earlier, from the huge, round brown eyes, to the grey markings on his head that looked much like Yugyeom’s mop of unruly dark hair, down to they distinct black dot underneath his right eye that could only be Yugyeom’s signature mole.

Yugyeom ultimately made it home in one piece, fully human, but still as clingy to Jaebeom as ever. Apparently the experience of being so small and fragile had shaken him. Jinyoung was kind enough to drop the scolding for another day when the two showed up, Yugyeom refusing to let Jaebeom go, and Jaebeom simply saying one word of explanation: “Cat.”

They were later able to take better precautionary measures for Yugyeom because they found that he only turned at times when they were at the practice studio (something about Yugyeom being triggered by anxiety about performing and lack of confidence in his dancing). It didn’t stop Jinyoung from coddling him afterwards and fussing over him like an overprotective helicopter parent. Not that Yugyeom ever minded.

The nickname “Cake” came much, much later, during one moment of sheer mayhem when they had been celebrating Yugyeom’s birthday with a birthday cake and he took that opportune moment to turn feline. Jinyoung had outright panicked at kitten-Yugyeom having sugary treats and the possible dangers it posed to him.

This had sparked a debate about whether human food deemed dangerous for cats applied to idol-turned-cats (one Jinyoung did not care to join because he was too busy calling up their seniors to consult on the matter only to relievingly discover that the answer was no, their digestive systems were quite safe and Yugyeom was in no danger of poisoning). By the time they’d ceased the debate and Jinyoung had told them the news, Yugyeom had finished all of his birthday cake and lay, stuffed, as a kitten, in the middle of leftover buttercream.

***

_ Koonta _

If there was one person he absolutely wished had stayed adverse to the ‘curse’, it would be Jackson. Jaebeom absolutely  _ hated _ it whenever Jackson turned. Not only were his transformations completely random and unpredictable, but he was as rowdy and hyperactive as a cat as he was human. At times, Jaebeom wondered if Jackson had more fun being a cat with all the freedom he got to exert his excess energy.

He was a handful to care for: dashing around from one corner to another, diving underneath chairs and sofas to retrieve or store small trinkets, climbing up curtains, scratching sofas and cushions to shred, knocking over things from tables...and still doing all of this when his members were trying to get some shut-eye. Jackson was essentially all the typical hyper-cat stereotypes, but tenfold.

Jackson was the wild card and so it was always utter mayhem whenever he turned at the most unfortunate times. The worst of it was when Jackson turned during a visit to Youngjae’s apartment. They were lucky he hadn’t suddenly turned on stage or on set with how packed their schedules always were. 

For one, Youngjae was allergic to cats, so that wasn’t great. But that wasn’t something they couldn’t get over, having gotten used to contingency plans with the members shifting feline at inconvenient times of the day. The second and most detrimental reason was the fact that Jackson the cat did not get along with Coco. Perhaps ‘get along’ was putting it lightly; Jackson the cat and Coco the dog were sworn and mortal enemies.

Predictably, this stemmed from a longtime grudge Jackson the human held against Youngjae’s pet. The supposedly untimely and premature death of his beloved plant-friend by Coco’s uncultured muzzle still brought Jackson great sadness and he would never let Youngjae nor his pet ever forget it (even if Jackson likes to conveniently forget that Youngjae had brought him a new plant, deeming the replacement unworthy). This animosity only intensified when Jackson turned feline.

It had been one of those days where they didn’t know how they ended up piled in Youngjae’s living room, too tired to even speak after a long day at the dance studio, simply laying about at any and every comfortable surface they could find. Jaebeom had just been about to suggest they order late night snacks when a rustling of clothes was closely followed by frantic and panicked meowing. Bambam, who had been sitting closest to Jackson immediately turned to where Jackson had been sprawled on the floor to find his clothes lying flat as though he had melted into nothing. Except for the substantial lump in the middle of Jackson’s sweater that was moving and only tangling itself even more in the clothing.

Cooing, Bambam took pity on the agitated cat and tried to pull it out of its sweater labyrinth, but it had grown much too agitated for the process to be easy. “Will you chill the  _ fuck out _ !” Bambam exclaimed after several moments of unsuccessfully aiding Jackson.

“Language,” Jinyoung said flatly, not even looking up from where his eyes were glued to the book he had in one hand, the other still threading his fingers through Jaebeom’s hair from where the man laid snug on his lap.

Jaebeom tried to roll over to better see why Bambam was having so much trouble with Jackson, but Jinyoung held a firm hand to his cheek and stopped him from shifting his position. Jaebeom stole a quick glance at Jinyoung and found that he was in one of his rare calm and happy moods: the lack of furrowed brows, the released tension from every possible surface of his face, the slight uplift to the edges of his lips, and just the faintest hint of a hum escaping his throat. Jinyoung was comfortable and unwilling to put that state in any state of peril, not for Bambam, not for Jackson, and probably not even if the entire building had suddenly gone up in flames.

From his periphery, Jaebeom could make out Bambam still trying to pull Jackson out of his own sweater while making calming noises for the feline. Yugyeom had apparently joined the effort, his kissy noises very much apparent.

Perhaps it was bad timing or just pure misfortune or there was something in the cosmic constellations that wouldn’t allow them peace of mind for even an evening, but just as it seemed Bambam and Yugyeom had managed to detangle Jackson and was trying to fully unearth him from the confines of his sweater, a loud yip rang through the apartment, followed by padded feet on the wooden floor. The effect was instantaneous: what had been loud meows slowly subsiding as Yugyeom and Bambam calmed Jackson down turned into shrill screeches of utter and absolute pandemonium.

Jaebeom’s first instinct had been to get Youngjae to restrain Coco from possibly maiming a fellow bandmate or distract her with snacks and cuddles (Coco was always a sucker for attention). Jaebeom would soon realize Coco was not the one in need of restraining.

Jackson’s shrieks of panic multiplied in both volume and frequency. Meanwhile, Coco’s yips suddenly shifted very drastically from happy and curious to utterly hysterical. At first, Jaebeom thought Jackson was reacting badly to having a canine nearby, his feline instincts kicking in at its natural enemy. But as the hissing and growling continued in much more intensity from Jackson and he hadn’t made an apparent dash away from his close proximity with Coco, it seemed more like a challenge proposition more than anything. The next series of events only served to further that thought.

“Jackson-hyung,  _ no _ !” Bambam yelled.

Before he could even begin to comprehend what was unfolding, Jaebeom saw a ball of white dash away across the living room within his line of vision, followed very closely by what seemed to be an elongated cat running its best after the dog despite that fact that only its head had been released through a sleeve in the sweater. Jackson was by no means a small cat and Coco wasn’t exactly the burliest of dogs, so it was quite the sight to see this cat-in-a-sweater give chase to the poor Maltese.

Not that Coco seemed particularly  _ frightened _ by Jackson. If anything, Coco reacted similarly as she would when Youngjae gave her a new pet toy and she was overjoyed at the chance for novelty playtime. Jackson clearly had different motives, if his standing fur and flat ears were any indication: he was out for blood.

The formerly calm apartment turned tumultuous with Yugyeom and Bambam taking the initiative to run after Jackson, trying to pull the ends of the sweater to hold him back but failing to keep up with his agility (already miles above the rest of his bandmates and being expedited with his feline reflexes). Youngjae’s loud laughter only added to the commotion: apparently he found his pet dog being hunted by a vengeful catperson hilarious. Mark was trying to capture everything on camera.

Jaebeom would have tried to put a stop to everything or at least taken measures to minimize any possible further damage they could cause, but Jinyoung had barely budged from his combing of Jaebeom’s long strands, unperturbed and still completely unbothered. Jaebeom would have been a little more on edge if he wasn’t already so comfortable and cosy, the plushness of Jinyoung’s thighs serving as a pleasant resting place. Everything else became almost as relevant as white noise to him.

He would have probably fallen asleep if Jinyoung hadn’t spoken, tone barely straying away from tranquility and voice a normal level that somehow managed to ring through the ruckus.

“Youngjae, please go get Coco and put her in your room. Yugyeom, Bambam, check the fridge to see if Youngjae has the ingredients for Jackson’s smoothie. If not, go to the store across the road to get them. We had established and thoroughly discussed the protocol for calming cat Jackson. You both were there, follow it. Mark-hyung, please send me the raw version of that video before you start editing it.”

It was like watching an army of soldiers being directed by their general: the running stopped, Yugyeom and Bambam quietly padding over to the kitchen, and Youngjae got up to softly started calling Coco to him (the dog making an immediate beeline for his arms and was immediately lifted off the ground). There was a ping from where Jinyoung’s phone was lodged by his side, indicating Mark had followed through on his part as well.

“And Jackson,” at this, Jinyoung  _ finally _ looked up from his bag, eyes immediately finding the still tangled cat frozen in his spot between the living room and the kitchen, still on his haunches and posed to strike, “will you  _ chill _ ?”

The effect was startlingly instantaneous: Jackson the cat pulled out of his predatory stance, ears returning to its regular upright position, and he promptly, as though demonstrating just how obedient he was, plopped his butt down on the floor. A moment later, Jackson was already loafing, still very much half-covered in the sweater, but merely watching Yugyeom and Bambam clumsily make their way around the kitchen to make his smoothie.

“That’s more like it,” Jinyoung said with a small, satisfied smile, returning to his book with the beginnings of a soft hum and fingers still dutiful in their care of Jaebeom’s hair.

Jaebeom felt the last vestiges of tension seep away from his shoulders and jaw and he finally caved into the desire to bury his face in Jinyoung’s stomach, knowing that things were very much under control. 

They would add into Jackson the cat’s protocol later that at all possible times they needed to maintain a safe distance between feline Jackson and Coco. Jackson thought the whole idea was ridiculous and that ‘if his animalistic side wanted to hunt its natural prey, then it should.’ Jinyoung snuffed out the fire in that discourse before it could even ignite by pulling him aside and telling him about Jaebeom’s nicknames for their bandmates as cats. He let Jackson feel privileged enough to be given the chance to name himself.

Koonta, Jackson had insisted, referencing the Korean reggae artist he had occasionally listened to for inspiration. He wanted his rapper personality to shine through even as a cat. Jinyoung conveniently left out the fact that Korean short-haired Jackson was about as badass as a baby with a rattle. He nevertheless made sure Jackson saw the designated folder in Jaebeom’s phone of feline Jackson had been named appropriately.

Jaebeom loved cats but in Jackson’s case, he made a mental note to let Jinyoung be the one to deal with him. It seemed their ‘Wang Gae-Park Gae’ friendship/brotherhood/fraternity transcended any physical morphing their bodies did and they remained as ridiculously chummy as their friendship denoted in human form. In any case, Jaebeom had a hard time keeping human Jackson in line and he’d gladly let someone else take the reins on feline Jackson.

***

_ Odd _

When they first debuted, Mark had been assigned the “visuals” of the group, always being marketed as the handsome foreigner every fangirl or boy would weakly fall for, the gorgeous young man with athletic skills to rival even once an Asian champion like Jackson. And to an extent, this wasn’t much of a marketing scheme as it was taking advantage of how ridiculously attractive Mark was: his boyish charms, his shyness in the face of the Korean variety show scrutiny, his sometimes disarming switch from being the eldest to acting like the youngest in a split second instance.

Bottom line: nobody would or could be immune to Mark’s attractiveness nor charms.

It was only then fitting that Mark’s feline form came in one of the most graceful, most objectively beautiful breeds of cats Jaebeom had ever had the privilege of seeing. Mark was a Turkish Angora: all fluffy white fur, small, symmetrical face, and a long, lavish tail to imbue any human with his shedding hair. Mark the cat could just be sitting and licking his paw and he’d have everyone captivated. Which is what he mostly did with his time whenever he turned.

Nobody could rightly pinpoint when Mark started turning, but he turned up one day in the middle of Bambam’s living room and no further questions were asked. Immediately, Jaebeom knew it became yet another disappointment for Bambam, who had been very much the only person in the entire Kpop industry anticipating the moment when he would be hit with the Idol Curse (he was hit the hardest when they found out Yugyeom turned—the two hadn’t spoken for  _ hours _ afterwards, the longest their maknaes had gone without speaking to one another).

Being the only two to never “transform”, Jaebeom had begun to hypothesize that there was some semblance of immunity for those commonly categorized as “cat people”. He theorized that if you were a person with a certain fondness for felines, it would be unlikely for you to turn into one. Jaebeom considered it to be some sort of universal intervention in ensuring the idols-turned-cats were cared for during their transformation.

Whatever it was, it still left Bambam very unhappy with his fate and he made his woes very clear when he sent a picture of cat-Mark calmly licking his paw to their group chat, followed by a series of capitalized texts:

**GOT7 Bhuwakul, Kunpimook** :

The world is only fair to those who won the gene pool.

UNFAIR, I TELL YOU!

THIS IS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE OTHERWISE FELINE-LOVING!

I DEMAND JUSTICE!

Jaebeom could only sigh as Youngjae and Yugyeom’s typing bubbles emerged.

**GOT7 Choi, Youngjae** :

Awwww...Mark-hyung looks just like Coco.

**GOT7 Kim, Yugyeom** :

BAMZ!

YOU ARE AN HONORARY CAT!

YOU TAKE CARE OF US WHEN WE TURN!

YOU GIVE US FOOD AND SHELTER AND LOVE AND CUDDLES AND FUN!

At that, Jaebeom felt a sting to his ego.

**You** :

Hey, I take care of you when you turn. I saved you from the training room during your first turn, didn’t I?

**GOT7 Kim, Yugyeom** :

YOU ALMOST LEFT ME TO  _ DIE _ THERE ALONE!

YOU WOULDN’T HAVE REALIZED IT WAS ME IF JINYOUNGIE-HYUNG HADN’T PANIC-CALLED YOU!

**GOT7 Wang, Jackson** :

OMG MARK-HYUNG IS SUCH A GORGEOUS CAT

HOW IS HE SO GORGEOUS

OMG STUNNING

AMAZING

_ FLAWLESS _

**GOT7/JJP Park, Jinyoung-ie** :

The next person to use all caps lock will have to do everyone’s dishes for a week.

**GOT7 Wang, Jackson** :

NOT IT!

**GOT7/JJP Park, Jinyoung-ie** :

:)

**GOT7 Wang, Jackson** :

……...crap.

**GOT7/JJP Park, Jinyoung-ie** :

Language!

Their group chat was then flooded by Jackson’s endless complaints about his new chore and the complicated logistics of having to go to every member’s residence to fulfill it each day. Although it was really all chatter and no bite, knowing full well that the punishment had been stipulated by Jinyoung, against whom nobody had the gall to appeal, not even Jackson.

Bambam had seemingly long ignored their messages, opting to keep posting pictures of cat-Mark in all his glorious poses and explaining in detail how this was further proof of the injustice in the world. Jaebeom thought that would be the end of the entire discussion, possibly hoping that Bambam would drop it once Mark had turned human again, but apparently things only made a turn for the absolute worst come morning.

The group had a protocol to ensure the security of their residences, a simple mechanism where only one other member of the group had full knowledge and access to another member’s apartment. A secret keeper of sorts for emergencies if family and management were unreachable. They did it by age, so it was completely normal for Jaebeom to find Mark in his kitchen the next morning, pouring himself a glass of milk. It  _ was _ quite alarming to find Bambam also there, screaming his lungs out at an otherwise nonchalant Mark.

“You  _ demolished _ my entire apartment!” Bambam was yelling. “Everything is  _ destroyed _ ! My collectables are irreparable, my beautiful furniture is unrecognizable, my kitchen is  _ pandemonium _ !”

Mark drank his glass of milk in one breath before putting the glass down to calmly address Bambam. “Your apartment’s fine. Stop exaggerating.”

Bambam was livid, his long limbs flying about everywhere. “I’M NOT EXAGGERATING! YOU UPENDED MY APARTMENT!”

“Dear God, so many big words for baby Bambam. The world is truly coming to an end.”

Both Mark and Bambam’s attention drew to the man emerging out of Jaebeom’s bedroom, hair stuck up in all possible gravity-defying angles, fingers ungracefully scratching his side in a show of complete contrast to his usual public persona. He sidled up to Jaebeom and promptly let his entire weight fall on Jaebeom’s back, hands coming to circle securely around Jaebeom’s waist—the only telltale sign Jinyoung was even there, other than the tufts of hair sprouting over Jaebeom’s shoulder.

“Okay,  _ ew _ .” Bambam said, the disgust on his face not even filtered.

“That’s homophobic,” Jinyoung mumbled against Jaebeom’s back.

“I’m not homophobic; I’m just like any poor child constantly being scarred by their parents showing PDA,” Bambam said.

“It’s weirder that you see bandmates only a couple of years older than you as parental figures,” Mark pointed out.

“Shut up, apartment-destroying grandpa,” Bambam retorted.

Mark still had his now empty glass in his hand and he was clenching it much too tightly at Bambam’s jibe, his jaw also tightening with tension. Jinyoung perked up behind Jaebeom at the beginning sounds of glass cracking just as Jaebeom opened his mouth before things took a turn for the worse.

“I think we should all sit down and–.”

Several things happened all at once in the count of a single second: the glass surrendered under Mark’s concentrated grip and shattered on the kitchen counter, Bambam shrieked in response to the noise and stumbled over his own legs, falling flat on the floor, Jinyoung inhaled deeply with his arms tightening reflexively around Jaebeom and causing his partner to wheeze at being inadvertently suffocated. Yet Jinyoung’s reaction was not triggered by the glass shattering, but rather the sudden transformation of man into cat. 

Despite having spent a good number of years in the Kpop industry and having their own groupmates fall victim to the Idol Curse, neither Jinyoung nor Bambam had ever been present to witness an actual human-to-cat transformation with their own eyes. Jaebeom had had his fair share of shocks and had now grown quite immune to the horror that was flesh seemingly melting, bones cracking and remolding into a small form, and fur sprouting at the rate of falling rain. The person undergoing the transformation never seemed to experience any pain, but the nightmare-inducing image of watching them was not something a person could get over easily.

“Oh my god! Ew! Ew!  _ Ew _ !” Bambam was screaming once he got back on his feet and scrambling to get his keys, phone and wallet. “That is so  _ gross _ ! I take back everything I said about wanting to turn into a cat! I  _ never _ want to get the Curse!” He was out the door before any of them could get another word in,

By then, Mark had crawled out of his heap of clothes, leaped off the floor and sat himself upright next to the wreckage of broken glass, licking his paw clean with the air of one shooting a luxury brand cat food commercial. Jinyoung still hadn’t let Jaebeom breathe with ease. Jaebeom was surprised he hadn’t just jumped on Jaebeom’s back and clung to him like a koala altogether.

“Jinyoungie, you need to let me go,” Jaebeom whispered over his shoulder. 

The tension in his arms eased a fraction, just enough for Jaebem to take in a proper breath, but his focus was still very much on Mark.

“Is that how  _ I  _ turn every time?” he asked, voice a little more high-pitched than usual.

Jaebeom nodded.

“I am  _ never _ letting you watch me turn ever again!” With that declaration, Jinyoung left for Jaebeom’s bathroom, the sound of water running immediately apparent, followed closely by some strangled groans. Jaebeom imagined Jinyoung was trying to cleanse his eyes from what he had just seen.

Mark the cat tilted his head ever so slightly at Jaebeom, equivalent to a human raised eyebrow in question, and Jaebeom could only approach him with a scratch to his ears in response. Mark didn’t need to know the horror show he had just inadvertently put on display.

By the time Jinyoung had deemed himself cleansed, Jaebeom had breakfast made with extra soup for cat Mark to enjoy. It was during this meal that Jinyoung voiced out the theory that Mark’s transformations could be tied to his anger management issues. Jinyoung’s hypothesis seemed to hold some ground, especially in light of the glass shattering incident mere moments before Mark turned feline. They later found out that Mark had been struggling to get on board with Bambam’s idea for their Japanese subunit song prior to his transformation at Bambam’s apartment and subsequent trashing of it after. (“Would you have rather Mark-hyung throw his laptop at you  _ again _ ?” Jinyoung had asked Bambam when they discussed this with him over the phone. To which, Bambam had shrilly replied, “He  _ destroyed _ my apartment! How is that any better?”)

The funny thing was that his anger later became less of a trigger for Mark, but more of a warning signal for the man himself. Mark became the first (and perhaps only one of them) to acquire the capability of transforming at will. Whenever his anger would fuel him and violent tendencies flooded his thoughts, Mark would turn himself feline. It had certainly subdued any major arguments that he was prone to making and left the group with less broken home appliances.

But, once he had gotten over the nightmare of watching a groupmate meld into a cat, Bambam had once again voiced the injustice of how, even with the Idol Curse, Mark had been blessed with the capacity to set himself on a whole other level above everyone else. And so, out of spite, Bambam had aggressively claimed the right to name the cat version of Mark, going with the ever uncreative, yet self-proclaimed genius simplicity, of choosing the name ‘Odd’. Bambam argued that there was nothing normal about a person being lucky enough to be good at everything he did  _ and _ always look stunning doing it. Jaebeom thought it best to give in to Bambam’s vengeful tirade lest he end up with another unwanted invasion of his apartment.

(Bambam eventually grew more appeased about the entire ordeal after a number of members of a junior group in the company—even their  _ leader _ —started turning into cats and Bambam had been assigned as their unofficial carer. Jaebeom would later wonder if it had been a good idea to suggest such an arrangement to management considering that Bambam seemed to enjoy the power he held over so many furry little beings in their most vulnerable state a little too much.)

***

_ Nora _

Once upon a fanmeeting, Jaebeom had chosen a question that he knew fans would love but also one that he could easily play out to tease Jinyoung:

_ Do you like Nora more or Jinyoung more? _

The answer hadn’t really mattered much nor had the question been a particularly tricky one because, in fact,  _ Jinyoung and Nora were one and the same _ .

It had simply been an opportunity for Jaebeom to push a little at Jinyoung’s hot buttons, knowing full well that being jealous of your own feline version was bordering on vain incredulity, but also because Jaebeom knew that if anyone would hold a grudge against their cat alter ego, it would be Jinyoung. And he had been quite right in that deduction: his long-drawn answer clearly alluding to Nora being the clear winner had not seemed to sit well with Jinyoung, even as he had laughed it off like it had been nothing. Jaebeom had seen the way his overreactions bordered on desperation, until, at the very end, when Jinyoung had surprised even Jaebeom by openly pronouncing himself as Nora.

Fans had believed it to be Jinyoung’s final attempt to win over Jaebeom’s vote, but the group knew that it had been an honest confession of the truth.

Ever since, whether out of pure habit or perhaps mere want to tease Jaebeom, Jinyoung had taken to rubbing his head against Jaebeom’s arm, shoulder, hand...whatever he could reach, in a manner that was undoubtedly non-human and very feline, if anyone were to make comparisons. Sometimes he would preempt by saying that he was acting out Nora, but in most occasions, these moments came without preamble.

Prior to this blatant disregard for exposure (“The best hiding place is to hide in plain sight,” Jinyoung would wisely argue), Jaebeom had been deathly afraid of Jinyoung being found out. Perhaps it had been the unsteady ground he and Jinyoung had been on in their younger JJ Project days or the uncertain future their career had as a unit. Either way, Jaebeom had gone full mother hen when Jinyoung turned, mere  _ days _ after their debut. It had been his coping mechanism to prevent himself spiralling into panic, being a mere teenager in the public eye and suddenly being responsible for another human being/feline. Jaebeom adopted a name for Jinyoung the cat, shared a few pictures to validify his ownership and even concocted a tale of how he adopted the lonely, sad cat sitting in the corner of its pen at the shelter. Jaebeom thought his best stroke of genius about the entire sham was determining Jinyoung the cat to be female. He thought that would throw off any possible suspicions. When he thought about it these days, Jinyoung’s philosophy of ‘hiding in plain sight’ seemed to be what he had implemented anyway.

Jinyoung had fought hard against the identity Jaebeom had given him as a cat and it became the source of many,  _ many _ arguments (although they both realized much later on that these arguments were fuelled by much more deep-seated issues of emotional denial they were unwilling to address). It drove a wedge in their partnership and made it difficult for them to be actual good friends for at least a couple of years afterwards.

Whilst Jinyoung had gone through mostly anger and frustration during their younger days, Jaebeom had had a different memory about their time together, particularly whenever Jinyoung had turned into Nora. Human Jinyoung was a handful and emotionally draining, but Jinyoung the kitten had been very mild-mannered, clingy, weak for rubs and scratches, and a complete cuddle bug. Jaebeom would never say it, but he enjoyed the company of ‘Nora’ more than he did Jinyoung. And perhaps that had been part of the problem as well back then.

Eventually they had matured, had the buffer of five other people to diffuse their tension and Jaebeom had finally put together enough courage to call Jinyoung to a private talk where he was able to lay out his feelings of affection in the open. It hadn’t been an immediate moment of romantic confessions. In fact, Jinyoung had coped with the prospect of discussing feelings the only way he knew how: by turning into Nora. It had lasted  _ days _ , much longer than a regular transformation, and Jaebeom had panicked for the first two when he didn’t know where ‘Nora’ had gone. Management had been kind enough to reschedule some of their recording sessions and avoided a scheduling nightmare. But nevertheless, Jaebeom could only have been truly relieved when ‘Nora’ showed up in his bedroom, stalking over to him with unblinking blue eyes and promptly curling himself up on Jaebeom’s chest. The purring had been instantaneous and perhaps involuntary, but he had let Jaebeom’s hand land on his head and begin a series of long pats along his spine.

Jaebeom had woken up to human hands cupping his face in the morning, a throaty apology, and a kiss that began a morning of exchanged words they would never have been able to verbalize when they had been teenagers.

Since then, Jinyoung and ‘Nora’’s personalities seemed to have reconciled or, more fittingly, merged. Jinyoung had become a lot cuddlier and clingy, his tight-lipped smiles having a curl to them that paired remarkably well with the lines at the corner of his eyes fans had adorably dubbed “eye whiskers”. Meanwhile, ‘Nora’ became a lot more pensive and aloof, his gaze easily taking on that judgmental glare Jinyoung had made his trademark.

Jaebeom could no longer create a distinction between his reactions towards Jinyoung the person and Nora the cat, which had resulted in a constant internal battle of Jaebeom trying his utmost best to consciously hold himself back from scratching Jinyoung behind his ears just to see if he was humanly capable of purring. Or lifting him by the scruff of his neck to place on his lap. Jaebeom lasted for the better part of the first year they were officially together, but Jinyoung’s growing disregard for keeping his feline behaviour at bay eventually wore Jaebeom down and he succumbed to the constant itch.

It had then become more of an exasperation for their other bandmates who found the blatant display of affection nauseatingly obnoxious. Beyond the ridiculous level of skinship they shared and lack of personal space, Jaebeom and Jinyoung had this particular expression on their faces when they looked at one another (which was pretty much most of the time): a soft, affectionate sort of look that, for lack of a better word, depicted how enamored they were with each other. Loving, Yugyeom would say. Whipped, Mark would argue.

But the connection they had, allowed for at least one benefit for the rest of the group: Jinyoung only turned in Jaebeom’s solitary presence. He hadn’t acquired the aptitude to control his transformations as Mark had, but Jinyoung, being the hallmark of adversity to showing his insecurities, seemed to only find enough comfort and peace to let himself be vulnerable with Jaebeom. Although, true to his word, after the incident with Mark, Jinyoung would try his utmost best to prevent Jaebeom watching him transform, even if that was, more often than not, impossible to achieve.

Jaebeom hardly minded anyway. They had been through figurative hell together and he knew that all Jinyoung needed when he turned feline was safety and an infinite amount of affection. Jinyoung could be as selfish and possessive as he wanted with Jaebeom’s attention and Jaebeom was more than willing to provide.

“You’re such a spoiled baby,” Jaebeom would lovingly tease ‘Nora’ as he fed the cat some shredded piece of steamed chicken breast (even as a cat Jinyoung was strict about maintaining his diet).

‘Nora’ would look up and give Jaebeom a minute growl of warning that dissipated immediately when Jaebeom kissed the top of the cat’s head, chuckling. They would cuddle later, Jaebeom taking that downtime opportunity to release the thoughts plaguing his mind and weighing down his shoulders, speaking to a response of head butts, soft meows, and small licks to his nose. It was therapeutic for the both of them: Jinyoung could let go of the professional and mature front he constantly put on, slipping back into being his bratty, coddled self, while Jaebeom had time to unload his personal feelings, ultimately contributing to his better moods and overall coping mechanism.

More often than not, Jinyoung would turn back overnight and Jaebeom would wake up to a very real human man sprawled all over his bed and his body, face puffed, drool dripping, and hair the equivalent of an overused broom. Jaebeom always woke up before Jinyoung did, but he would never manage to crawl himself out of the limbs weighing him down to the bed. And so he would stay in bed, stroking Jinyoung’s back or playing with his unruly crown of hair or simply watch him sleep. Jinyoung would wake up either extra clingy, refusing to accept the fact that he had to be a functioning human once again, demanding extra cuddles and overtime in bed, or he would be huffy and indignant, calling Jaebeom a creepy pervert for watching him sleep naked, promptly getting up to grab whatever he could find from Jaebeom’s closet (usually just shorts and a large hoodie that Jaebeom would never see returned again).

Jaebeom had grown to no longer be afraid of fans figuring out the truth behind the cats he had. But he had also become quite protective over his members, knowing that their transformations came from the pressure of idolhood and that it was the only moments of reprieve they had amidst demanding schedules and anxiety-inducing expectations. And so he had become very reluctant about their exposure, keeping all the pictures and videos he took of them to himself.

At times they were mere sources of entertainment to him, but other times, he found that the feline alter egos of his groupmates provided valuable insight into the subtle intricacies of their personalities he hadn’t noticed before: Youngjae was very decisive and opinionated with very clear cut views of what he considered right and wrong, Yugyeom was still very much a young child at heart who saw the world through fearful eyes and constantly relied on the presence of those he trusted to keep him calm, Jackson was fiercely competitive—even more so than Jinyoung—and felt a need to always prove himself to others even if it potentially meant putting himself at risk (he had once jumped into a bucket full of soapy water and almost drowned himself just to prove that cats weren’t afraid of water), and Mark was amazingly good at reading his groupmates’ nonverbal cues, always sticking by a member that seemed to be going through something difficult, even if they showed no outward signs of distress.

Jaebeom’s other consolation about having to deal with this entire situation was that his members never turned at the same time, allowing him the physical and mental capacity to deal with them one at a time. Nevertheless, it made idol life all the more interesting and his leadership role a lot more challenging—in a good way.

It may have been a Curse, but Jaebeom found having five adorable cats to pamper and coddle the best thing about being an idol.

Plus, it provided him with a lot of blackmail material to keep his groupmates in line. 

***

**Author's Note:**

> I've written quite a bout of angsty JJP fics so it was high time I wrote something fluff and (an attempt at) crack.
> 
> Clearly this was inspired by the many comparisons made between Jinyoung and cats, and the fact that Jaebeom refuses, point blank, to expose his cats, despite his very obvious affection for them. And so the question that emerged: what if his cats were actually GOT5?
> 
> Brainstorming and general idea exchange shout out to my little sister, as always!
> 
> Also, kudos to anyone that picked up the indirect reference to Stray Kids!
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments below~
> 
> Much love,
> 
> miangel29


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